mainstobserv

The surcharge system in Massachusetts is simply a partnership between the police and the insurance companies. This article is a good starting point, but Ford should look at the real costs to the driver of getting even a minor ticket.

There is absolutely no research that justifies the extraordinary surcharges contribute to driver safety or a reduction in accidents. All they do is add to the insurance companies bottom line. Essentially, tax payers are paying the salaries of the companies best revenue agents: the police.

Your link to the Polish National Catholic Church is the best information in all these posts. The best thing these people could have done (and maybe still could), would be to buy these churches from the Diocese (MD in Holyoke, St Stans in Adams, Holy Trinity in Hatfield, etc.) and see if they could run them as PNCC parishes. Then, they would see what it takes to pay the priest, buy oil, repair 100-year-old buildings, and put up with the complaints of parishioners who think that their $5/week (or $1/week) gives them ownership.

As many others have said, it's dollars-and-cents. The parishioners are getting older and fewer, and don't adequately support their church. It's wonderful that grandfather contributed to the stained-glass windows 60 years ago, but that's not paying the utility bill or the janitor's salary.

Where are the volunteers who used to answer the phone, play the music, clean the place, cut the lawn and shovel the snow? Where are the nuns who taught without salary? You demand a lot from your church, but haven't given. How many priests and religious have you "given" to the church? If you claim "ownership" then you've been doing a poor job of it.

Stop blaming Springfield, Rome, or the priest scandal for a problem that was well know and discussed by your pastor: your giving was too little and couldn't support your church.

This is very correct. The money in the plate failed to cover operating and repair costs for many years. And, what logic concludes that giving donations (offerings) to an institution makes the donor an owner?

Hope that this building and other closed churches get demolished as soon as permitted. Stop turning these old buildings into shrines and having to pay taxes on them.

Why does any mention of being jailed or imprisoned always immediately leap to "Bubba and the cot above" or some other suggestion of rape? Is this the expectation at Hampshire Jail and other facilities, or is it just mythology based on stereotypical behavior behind bars?

The NFD and NPD have very good reputations with the public. Nobody will benefit from this nonsense. It will unnecessarily polarize the departments, further erode confidence in the union, and probably just waste taxpayer money in responding to unsupported claims.

Many comments are complaining about the roundabout. I disagree. It's flows very nicely, and is no problem for snow plowing or any other reason.

The nicest esthetic feature of this roundabout is the brick apron---although it was never made clear whether to drive on it or not. Who knew that trucks were anticipated to use it?

It is a big loss to replace this good looking contrasting color brick and granite with asphalt.

If this $1.6 Million dollar project's problem is simply poor construction (lowest bidder, poor oversight, etc.), why not keep the original design and repair it rather than tear it out and pave it over?

RightiIsWrong states what is true in most of his other restaurants, as well. It's not the food, but the attitude of some of the staff that is lousy. Also, I'm glad the reviewer thought it was good value, but a dollar-size piece of bread with some cheese on it for $7.95 has Guerra smiling with every order.

Why stop at law schools? Many graduates of Master's and PhD programs, esp in the humanities, aren't able to get a job that even pays for the student loans.

Schools, even public ones, are all about getting graduate students enrolled to feed the monster that is known as tenured professor. They need students to justify having all these high-paid faculty in lifetime jobs---regardless of the limited positions awaiting the graduates at the end of the line.

Programs should be forced to put a bold, large-print warning in every ad and catalog regarding the unlikelihood of finding work in the field, and a disclaimer so the school can't be sued.

Wish that the security camera picked-up the front of the trailer. Would like to see the lock that Thompson claims was on the trailer. Didn't seem the the men were fooling around removing a lock. They lined up the trailer, hooked it up and drove off.